D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

--- Kamiko ---

Working on the ice cream had calmed her down massively. It gave Kamiko a chance to go over everything that happened… and she started noticing a few things that were odd. The fear was still there, rumbling in the back of her mind… and even with the new information Kamiko couldn't say she was over it exactly… but it raised some questions.

The first was that… she'd dealt with worse stuff then that prior encounter back in school plenty of times. Then when you combine that with her regular contact with Sue… and she could tell that Church wasn't the slightest bit interested in her.

Kamiko didn't know if the girl was just straight, or if there was something else about Kamiko… but there was no lust at all in that gaze… and Kamiko hadn't noticed.

*Which IS weird. Don't get me wrong. That quickly escalated into a stressful situation and then I spiralled hard. I let myself lock up mentally until the 'fight' part of my brain woke up and decided to start slicing… but it's weird things got to that point. Why was I so scared?*

Kamiko had a suspicion as to the answer and she did not like it. There really was only one. Meg. *Subtle application of fear aura? I can't think of it as being anything else.

I can see Meg just… ramping up my anxiety… and while I want to say I'd have noticed… what I think she did instead was make me just a touch more fearful until it ramped into a spiral and then just… let me loose allowing my brain to do the rest of it.

And… and I don't know how I feel about that. On the one hand it was… IS horrific for Meg to have done that to me. I am in no way happy about it… but maybe I needed to know about it? I'm certainly not going to thank the… the bi… the witch for it.

That was evil and really hurtful and definitely hasn't improved my social anxiety at all… but I was already super scared of Meg when I thought about it too hard so it hasn't really helped THAT either.

I mean… what am I meant to do with this information?! I definitely have to apologise to church, and the ice cream will be good for that… but like… gosh I just don't know. Like… where do we even go from there? Sorry but my not-friend Meg here used her fear aura to cause an incident? I don't want to say that! Is that meant to be part of the plan!*

Yeah Kamiko found that even though she wasn't having a panic attack anymore, it did not mean her issues had been solved. They'd just been replaced by a second set of issues… that while less immediately panic inducing were probably worse to have long term. *I hate that Hunter's idea Meg is messing with me for her own personal entertainment might be the closest to the truth.

Urgh. That's going to be something to tell my therapist… and maybe a reason to make those appointments regular. Mum would probably be happy about that?* Kamiko was just loading the ice cream mixture into the machine she'd pulled from her storage when Pip carefully opened the door and poked her head in. Kamiko glanced over. "Um… are you alright?" asked Pip.

Kamiko gestured for the younger girl to step inside. "That… is a complicated question," said Kamiko when she found she was incapable of answering 'yes' or 'I'm ok' because apparently that was too much of a lie. "I'll need to apologise to Church because it wasn't her fault…"

"Hey she was being mean!" Pip cut in.

Kamiko shook her head, "No. Or well… I wasn't entirely comfortable with the conversation but I've dealt with much worse from Sue. Granted Church isn't my friend, so that's bad… but Meg ensured I felt trapped and then… I THINK she used a bit of fear… not quite magic but let's just say fear magic for simplicity.

"I'm already not the best socially so… Meg just pushed me a bit and then let my panicked mind escalate all by itself. So when I say it's not Church's fault I do mean it… but I also don't want to admit that it's Meg's fault because… well I don't exactly want to poke that bear either?"

"Wouldn't it be better if she got punished though?" asked Pip.

Kamiko glanced at the younger girl, finding it odd to be on the other side of this conversation. "Right… but when people were mean to you did they always get punished?"

"No…?" offered Pip.

"Exactly. I'm not really sure who you think could punish Meg… but it certainly isn't mean and Hunter wouldn't be able to either…" *Though that's not just due to relative strength. I'm sure Hunter could beat Meg up for an hour and the crazy greed demon would consider that a reward.

Maybe… Meg is competitive.* "Kat would stand up for me and fight sure… but Kat's actually my friend and I have no idea who is likely to win in that fight. I'd hate for Kat to get really hurt…" explained Hunter.

"I still think it's bad," said Pip.

Kamiko shrugged, "It IS bad and I can probably put in a complaint about it but even if she gets punished, which I'm not sure she will… Meg would just accept it as the 'price of doing business'. Ultimately what she did was… minimal in some ways.

Um… we do take mental health seriously of course but… what she did was probably the equivalent of pushing me into a wall a bit too hard and getting a lump on your head?

"I'm also pretty sure Meg could honestly state that she was intending for it to help me. Which… is certainly not her entire intentions, but she CAN say it and well… that gives her a lot of wiggle room for… what is technically a minor issue,"

"It didn't seem minor to me…" grumbled Pip.

Kamiko sighed as she popped open the ice cream maker and added in a bit more flavouring. It was better that way… if what she remembered her mother saying was correct. Kamiko flicked the switch back on as she turned to Pip. "It… it is and it isn't. I'm going to be worried for a while now… but well… no permanent mental harm done I don't think.

Which isn't great but we do have services for that sort of stuff we're expected to use if we have a problem and just… urgh it's a mess sometimes,"

"I'm just hearing that you think she can get away with being mean to you. I don't think I'd want to be a demon if that's the case," said Pip firmly, completely ignoring the similar issues she'd experienced despite not being a demon at all.

*I… I don't know how to respond to that? Shouldn't Pip know better? She's not five she's also a teenager… unless… did we ever establish how these guys mature mentally? No? Bother.* Kamiko was saved from potentially awkward conversation when the machine beeped signalling the ice cream was ready. Kamiko quickly got to scooping it out into bowls using her storage ring to make the process quite painless.

Kamiko stepped back out into the room and instantly everyone turned towards her. Kamiko shivered but tried to keep any misgivings from showing on her face. Everyone was still there, though… the workout crew was now sitting close to the back at the table next to Church and Brook for some reason. "So… um sorry about before but I have ice cream for everyone to try?

Just let me know if you want chocolate sauce over it?"

Seeing no complaints Kamiko made her way around the tables and was surprised that nobody asked for the extra chocolate. Perhaps they didn't know what chocolate sauce was and assumed based on the 'sauce' name it'd be syrup? *But they don't know what ice cream tastes like right? So why would they know it's a problem? Maybe Meg explained it?*

When she got to Church's table Kamiko placed the two bowls of ice cream down and apologised, "Sorry about before Church. I was… not particularly comfortable at the time and freaked out more than necessary,"

"Um…" Church glanced at… Kamiko? No behind her. "That's fine I was probably in the wrong anyways. Especially after you cooked that food. Um… I wasn't exaggerating those reactions much it was… um really quite good. I… think perhaps I have some… issues with food?

I mean… I haven't ever tasted anything close to that… but yeah I'm still sorry,"

"Oh… um… I forgive you either way? I just felt somewhat cornered and then Meg was there, and between the two of you it wasn't a great time…" said Kamiko leaving out a few things.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"No… it was my fault,"

"No, no, it was mine I freaked out…"

"Yes but I freaked you out and like… I get that I can be a bit different at times…"

"Well yes but there's nothing wrong with that… I just…"

"Right but that doesn't make it ok to…"

Brook stared on in horror. There was two of them!